


"I love that about you."

by ForensicSpider98



Series: Love After the Fact [33]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, All this stress is bad for the baby, Altean Adam (Voltron), Altean Prince Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Aromantic Asexual Pidge | Katie Holt, Balmeran Hunk (Voltron), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Galra Shiro (Voltron), Galran Prince Keith (Voltron), Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, M/M, Moral Ambiguity, Moral Dilemmas, Multi, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Olkari Pidge | Katie Holt, Post-War, it's keith. keith is the baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24014950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ForensicSpider98/pseuds/ForensicSpider98
Summary: Lance and Keith have separate 'moments' in regards to each other as the Frost Ball kicks offAlso, if you want you know what Keith's chirps sound like, check out this video. Be warned, it's CUTE! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWD_CQnKR28
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Alfor/Coran (Voltron), Allura/Lotor/Romelle (Voltron), Haggar/Zarkon (Voltron), Hunk & Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Love After the Fact [33]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1635043
Comments: 22
Kudos: 208





	"I love that about you."

Lance skids to a halt on the wrong side of the side doors. “Okay! Fires are out, crises are averted, Adam, I need a high five.” 

What he really needs is a hug, but Lance knows Adam would rather die that indicate he feels things other than glee at the suffering of others.

The attendant adjusts his glasses, lifts a hand. Lance claps their palms together, grinning.

“Excellent high five, your Majesty.”

“Shiro,” Lance whispers, hovering in the hallway. The captain raises an eyebrow. “I need you to keep an eye out for any suspicious characters. There’s been one assassination attempt on myself and my husband; I don’t want another. Keep Adam close. He is at your disposal and will follow your orders.”

“Thank you, your Majesty.” The mountain of a Galra glances to the Altean, who bows respectfully. 

“Adam, if anything happens, come find me immediately. If it’s an emergency, handle it at once and send for me as soon as possible.”

“Yes, your Majesty. Now, the doors are opening for presentation in five doboshes. _Go._ ” Adam shoves him toward the door. “And for the love of the Ancients don’t flirt with anything. Except your husband.”

“Thanks, Adam! Love you too!” Lance bursts through the side door as his friend groans in disgust.

Lance all but runs for his throne, taking his seat next to his father. The gold hanging from his clothes chimes as he moves. His face feels heavy from the paint under and around his eyes and on his lips. It had taken more than a few doboshes to hide the shadows under his eyes, but eventually Adam and Vetroneius managed to make him look refreshed and awake.

Refreshed and awake Lance is not. He’s exhausted. One of his current responsibilities is to write and change legislation to be enacted on the first thaw. A lot of laws are outdated, contradictory, or just plain useless, and it’s Lance’s job to change them. It’s vargas upon vargas of mind-numbing work that he’ll be doing long after the thaw. There's no way to get it all done in time, but he wants to at least make a dent in it.

Then, upon hearing that he’d invited Lotor, Alfor had placed him in charge of finishing the arrangements for the ball. It was an important opportunity for him, a sign of trust that Alfor rarely ever afforded him. It was also petty, but that was pretty normal. At any rate, he couldn’t say no. So here he was, barely on time, thoroughly drained, and stressed beyond belief.

"Hey, beloved."

A small hand slips into his, applies sweet pressure. “Are you okay?”

“Everything’s fine. I took care of it. Just a few minor disasters in the kitchen, barracks, courtyard, and cloakroom,” Lance promises, pressing a kiss to his spouse’s cheek. “How are you?”

Keith visibly swallows an anxious chirp. “F- Fine. I’m fine.”

“It’ll be alright. The first varga or two is just being introduced to new court members. Basically, it means they’re of age to-”

“-be traded as breeding stock for their families' material gain?”

“...Essentially, yes. We just sit here and look untouchably beautiful. Then we eat small amounts of food every varga or so while going around talking to people. And we have to dance a few times, of course.”

“Okay.” Keith’s fingers tighten in his. A chirp slips out, sets his ears trembling with embarrassment. Lance is only just catching on to exactly how much Keith hates crowds. He hates them a lot. He'd probably rather spend an evening alone with Alfor then be here.

“So you have a little table with food in the corner away from everybody else for when you get sick of these idiots. I will retrieve you when my father starts giving me pointed looks. Right, father?”

“Indeed. Prince Yorak, I do expect you to socialize, at least with Prince Lotor and Princess Allura. It is necessary for appearances.” Alfor’s eyes scan the room, searching for something. “Lancel, please keep an eye out for anyone you don’t recognize.”

“Of course, father. I’ll have some idea of who might be out of place once I make the rounds, but thus far I have seen nothing out of the usual.”

“Should we expect anything unusual, or are we being paranoid?” Keith murmurs.

“Always proceed on the side of caution,” Alfor whispers. On the king’s other side, Coran groans, rolling his entire head back. Lance bites his lip against a laugh.

“Don’t worry,” Lance whispers, leaning to Keith’s ear. “Nothing's going to happen, it’s one night, and then you won’t have to worry about any of it until next winter-”

“Or until your first child is born,” Alfor murmurs.

“Oh, excellent, a party is _exactly_ what I’ll want after laboring for vargas to push a child out of my vagina.” Keith's scowl is magnificent, ears flicking back tight against his scalp, teeth glinting in the warm lighting Lance set up for the event.

Lance leans over, laughs into Keith’s shoulder, rests his head there. “Relax. Everything will be fine.”

“I know, but I-”

“Boys. Enough now. The doors are opening.” Alfor straightens in his seat. 

Lance sighs and lifts his forehead from Keith’s shoulder. He takes a moment to admire his spouse. Despite his visible discomfort, Keith looks exceptionally beautiful, with gold thread resewn into his hair, braided over his shoulder. His clothes are fine too, the white side paneling filling him out, giving him a stouter frame Lance imagines Keith likes. He has the natural poise to dress like royalty and look like it. Lance reaches up to fix Keith's bangs, and the kit leans into the contact just a touch.

“It’ll be alright, beloved. If you need me, come find me. And if we need to disappear for a few moments, the court will invent a filthy excuse for us. We'll have Lanval do it. He's exceptionally talented.”

Keith dredges up a smile. “Thanks.”

Lance nods, turns to face the doors. As youth after youth steps forward to introduce themselves to the rest of the court, he keeps ahold of Keith’s hand. The Galra prince brightens when Lady Gloriana is presented by her mother. The lady beams at the princes, the golden scales gleaming, pale pink hair woven on top of her head, crystals glittering in an elegant arrangement.

Keith leans over. “I should find her and Lord Lanval later to say hello.”

“We'll go together.” The princes nod in agreement, turn back to ceremony.

By the time presentations are over, Keith’s muscles are stiff and tight and he wants to stretch his arms above his head. Lance doesn’t stretch at all, his movement lackluster with exhaustion, inactivity, but he hides his discomfort well. Keith keeps hold of his hand as they descend the dais.

Lance raises his free hand, gradually gaining the court’s attention. “Before we begin, I want to thank you all for coming. This is a celebration of everything we have accomplished in the last decaphoeb. We have built new lives, brought children into the world, started families. We extended the hand of friendship to our closest neighbors, replacing milophoebs of war with a new era of peace and prosperity.

“The last decaphoeb has been huge for me, personally. Between getting married-” Lance raises their joined hands, kissing Keith’s fingers. The blue and gold paint on his lips doesn’t budge a spot as the jewels and gold in his ears twinkle in the light. “-and taking over municipal duties, I could say it has been the most important of my life thus far. I thank you all for sharing in this journey with me. It’s been difficult, but each and every one of you has made this time a little easier.

“Thank you for sharing this past decaphoeb with me. I look forward to everything we will accomplish with the next one. But for tonight, let us celebrate in each other’s company. I will surely celebrate in yours.”

The throng of courtiers applauds, smiles from ear-to-pointed-ear. Keith smiles too, edges closer to his spouse. It’s that humility again, the thing Keith loves most. The prince is vain to be sure -he spends way too long on his skin and hair-, but he reaches out to his people so gently, draws them in. He lifts up the people around him, lets them feel included, like they’re valuable, like they belong.

Keith loves that. He loves it so much.

Music picks up from the orchestra in a corner of the massive room. The courtiers disperse, finding friends within the crowd, food, drink. Lance tugs Keith over to a corner where a small table has indeed been set up for him. “How are you?”

“As well as can be expected for someone who hates crowds more than they hate being in excruciating pain.” Keith smiles. “I liked your speech.”

“Really? Are you lying? Was it terrible? It was terrible wasn’t it! Oh, my parents are going to kill me-”

Keith leans over, rubs their cheeks together -careful to go with Lance’s scales-, presses their brows together. “Relax. You did wonderfully. I’m sure they’re impressed. I am.”

“Hm. It takes a lot to impress Prince Yorak, or so I’m told..” Lance’s blue-and-pink eyes sparkle with mirth, inches from his.

“Not a whole lot. Just you.”

“Well _I_ think-" Lance blinks. "Wait, what?”

Keith looks far too satisfied with himself as he draws away, a sly smirk glittering in his dark eyes. “You always impress me, Lance. And _all_ of this is impressive.”

Lance takes a steadying breath, eyes finding the werelights hovering above them like stars, crystals glittering where they dangle from the ceiling like drops of frost. There are fountains of wine, tables of food. The people are smiling, dancing to the music. 

Everything is fine. All his hard work is paying off. Keith’s just put an arm around his waist, tucked his head under his chin with a soft purr.

“You’re… cuddly,” Lance mutters, wrapping his arms around his spouse. “Have you been drinking or something?”

“No, not yet. I just-” Keith sighs, pulls back. “Nevermind.”

“Hey, beloved,” Lance grumbles, tugging on the end of Keith’s braid.

The Galra prince sighs. "We’ll talk about it later, okay?”

“Really?” Lance knows for a fact his spouse would rather be anywhere else. What he doesn’t know is what’s prompted him to suddenly become so affectionate. But his willingness to set this aside seems to do something for Keith, because the young prince snuggles up to him again.

“Yes. I- I intend to do that, actually.”

“Very well, then.” Lance rubs a circle into Keith’s back, listens to him purr, makes a split-tick decision. “I need to speak with you, as well.” Lance sighs, squeezes Keith tight, lets his arms fall. “But right now, we have duties.”

“We always do,” Keith mumbles, stepping back. He grabs an oblong fruit and eats it quickly. “Oh, we need to dance. Ladies Renli and Seran are looking at us like they might come over and 'chat'."

Lance grins, takes his spouse’s hand. He can’t help but smile at the determined glint in Keith’s eye. Keith throws himself into everything, even when he hates it.

Lance loves that. He loves that so much.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time on Love After the Fact: Shiro gets a closer look at the people in Keith's life


End file.
